Following the finale of the Teamfight Tactics Remix Rumble Championship yesterday, Riot Games unveiled the next set for the popular autobattler. Inkborn Fables introduces a fun new RNG-based gameplay mechanic called Encounters. At random points throughout a TFT match, players will encounter legendary mythological figures from Runeterra. These figures add some sort of spin to the match, providing bonuses or altering gameplay completely.
A little chaos goes a long way
I’ve played every Teamfight Tactics set since the autobattler was originally released almost five years ago. Some of them changed things up more than others, but Inkborn Fables has the chance to be the biggest shake-up to gameplay yet with its Encounters system.
Over the last few days I’ve played about a dozen or so matches of TFT‘s Inkborn Fables set on the press and creator PBE, and every single one required me to change up my approach to have any sort of success. I’d consider myself a relatively average TFT player. Pretty much every set I get in, learn a few really good builds that I tend to swap between based on the match, and have been able to climb to Platinum rank each set.
But in Inkborn Fables, I actually felt the desire, and need, to actually spice up my builds based on what happened each match, and to try some new things that probably wouldn’t be considered “Meta” just to see if they worked. Sure, sometimes it resulted in me getting last place before Raptors. But, sometimes I’d find a build that only worked under the exact set of Encounters from that match, that ended up carrying me to a first-place finish.
In Inkborn Fables, over 90 potential random Encounters happen throughout the game at random times. Some may happen right at the start of the game, while others may take place on the carousel or before the start of a round. Some encounters have a pretty minimal effect on the game. For example, in one Encounter, each player is given a random Level 3 1-Star unit for just a single round. It doesn’t really change much. But in another Encounter, Kayn showed up at round 5-4 and killed everyone in order from least health to most, essentially ending the game right then and there.
Of course, the normal things you expect from a new TFT set are present too. Inkborn Fables features 59 champions, 27 traits, and more than 100 augments. Two of the champions are brand new and making their first appearance in Runeterra: Alune, Aphelios twin sister, and Kobuko, a Yordle martial artist.
Overall, this is shaping up to be one of the most content-rich and diverse sets we’ve seen yet. I’m excited to see what type of builds the really good players make to handle specific Encounter situations.
Teamfight Tactics Inkborn Fables set drops on March 20 on both PC and mobile.
